Docs Opening in Canada this Week (July 21-27)

Anyone with the slightest interest in film history simply must see Dawson City: Frozen Time. This excellent archival film brings to life lost films and photographs from the Gold Rush as director Bill Morrison mines a rare find of reels stashed away in the Yukon, which was the end of the line during the silent era for distributors who didn’t want to pay return freight for stale movies. These unique archival excerpts, full of scratches, specks of dirt, and flecks of mould, are valuable snapshots of the many lives touched by moving images. The film transports one to an era of history with vivid and remarkable detail thanks to the beautiful documentary images that accompany the silent works. Read the POV review of Dawson City: Frozen Time here.

Moving from film history to current affairs, The War Show provides a necessary and topical story from the war in Syria. This film by Andreas Møl Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon spans four years as it witnesses the Arab Spring movement through Zytoon’s eyes. The disc jockey turned director burrows into the crowds and captures notes of optimism one doesn’t often see in other bleaker docs about the civil war in Syria. In his review of the film, Jason Gorber calls The War Show “a powerful memoir of the last half-decade, a diary of despair and destruction that’s often heartbreaking.” Read the POV review of The War Show here.

This year’s tally of impressive dance docs continues. Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan opens joins Dancer, Reset, and Step to give doc fans some invigorating energy to beat the summer heat. The film offers an intimate portrait of prima ballerina Wendy Whelan as she prepares to leave New York City Ballet after a record-setting three decades with the company. Whelan takes a line from Bette Davis and says “If I don’t dance, I’d rather die,” and this breathtaking film inspires audiences to savour every dance as if it’s the last. [Stay tuned for the POV review!]